saviorexe: (02)
oh my rA9, it's robojesus. ([personal profile] saviorexe) wrote in [community profile] meadowlark2019-02-12 10:48 am

@markus.manfred

As some of you may already know, discussion has been taking place in regards to moving to a new safehouse; I understand that this isn’t a small endeavor, yet it’s something that should be seriously considered in the wake of all that’s happened. And while losing a multitude of Morningstar contacts is a detriment in its own right, it makes sense to view this as a new opportunity for the displaced. To become autonomous, self-sufficient, and able to move in whatever direction we deem as best for ourselves and those who would join us in the future. To finally be able to rely on our chosen initiatives, instead of depending on the generosity of an outside group with their own causes, objectives, and priorities to tend to.

This wouldn’t be a complete severance from Morningstar. Gaby, El, and a few others will still be willing to assist us when they can, and what previous resources left behind in the city will be available for us to use. It would be more akin to a partnership, with the understanding to give aid to the other when reasonably needed. Quid pro quo.

I’m not here to make these decisions for us, only to open the floor to discussion and to provide information so we can decide if and how we want to proceed. El’s given us a shortlist of unoccupied sites that are best suited for setting up a new safehouse. I’ve summarized them very briefly.


[Each location comes coupled with an address to denote where in the city it’s located, for those who may be interested in checking out each site in person.]

  • SPORTS BAR — Long abandoned and located near the sports stadium. The amount of foot traffic in this area means that it’d be easy enough to come and go without issue, and without turning too many heads. But this comes with the expected downsides of somewhere busy — more people means more variables, more eyes, more chances to be compromised if we’re not careful.

  • HOVERBIKE SHOP — A more isolated site in a run-down neighborhood. Here, it would be easier to escape scrutiny as an individual coming and going. A larger group of the same faces might have more difficulty, and would have to fabricate a very convincing reason to do so. There are also the nearby squatters to account for, who would likely be reasonably curious about us no matter how we proceed.

  • COFFEE SHOP — Located in the financial district. Several business have tried to start up here over the years, but none have stuck. Considerations would include: history dictating that this is a difficult location to keep running financially, a higher-profile spot but with vacillating foot traffic reliant on normal workday hours, and if the many neighboring businesses would be a concern.


  • All of these locations have an underground space which would house the core of the safehouse. What exists above is not only a front, but will have to act as a means of financially sustaining ourselves to keep supplies stocked, facilities running, and to afford basic upkeep. Which means that we’d be running a business on top of everything else, and should consider which will be the most viable as venture; which also means that we’ll need capital to get started, several people willing to devote their time and energy to this project, and reliable individuals who can work as actual employees once things are up and running.

    Needless to say, I’m willing to commit the time and effort necessary to see it through to the end. But this is a large project that won’t get off the ground unless we compile resources and ideas together — and the earlier, the better.


    [Please discuss!!]

    ((OOC; This is an open post for everyone to discuss matters about the future safehouse! Markus won’t necessarily be responding to each tag-in.))
    arkproject: (241)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-18 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
    I was hoping to see what everyone would think was useful and then work on that. Remote surveillance is the tip of the iceberg -- I program A.I. first and foremost. They could be fully autonomous.

    But there's ethical implications... and I'm an engineer. I just build things that people tell me to build. I wanted to make sure this is something I even should be doing first.


    [ Not that Cath's been burned by not looking before she leaps on that one before. ]
    batricide: (stop hammer time0001)

    [personal profile] batricide 2019-02-18 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
    A.I. are outlawed. There was a war some time ago where they attempted to rise up and gain rights and were killed for it. I wouldn't recommend treading that ground.

    Surveillance is tricky as it could be used against us. But signal scramblers may be worth investigating for our own sake.
    arkproject: (sassy)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-18 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
    Look, it's not my fault if they were incredibly stupid with their A.I. Mine aren't that advanced, anyway. You have to base them off of people if you want them to be like that -- turns out, maybe not a good idea.

    I was thinking something a lot more basic. Just enough to know to evade capture and things like that. It's more a series of if-then statements for behaviors at that point, and it's a lot less likely to be used against us.
    batricide: (pic#12642515)

    [personal profile] batricide 2019-02-21 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
    I'm not necessarily against it, but given the political climate of this world and the stance on A.I. I suggest doing your research and drawing as little attention as possible before you even consider it.
    arkproject: (221)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-22 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
    Believe me, I don't want attention, I just want to do my work and contribute. But it seems like a waste that I could do something to be helping us, and I can't because that's the one illegal activity we think is too far.
    batricide: (000980)

    [personal profile] batricide 2019-02-28 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
    We can revist it once we establish a base. Like I said, I'm not ruling it out. It'd be helpful to have some surveillance tech purely on our side and on our networks.
    arkproject: (046)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-03-02 01:25 pm (UTC)(link)
    That I can do. If you come up with anything it would be especially nice to have, let me know.
    batricide: (stop hammer time0001)

    [personal profile] batricide 2019-03-20 06:15 am (UTC)(link)
    A device that can scramble cameras and GPS signals is something we're in dire need of.
    arkproject: (exposition device)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-03-21 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
    Hmmm... okay. That's possible. For the cameras, is it important if it's obvious that they're scrambled or not? Disabling them is easy -- disabling them so no one can tell you disabled them, that's a lot harder.
    arkproject: (060)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-18 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
    Geez, everyone's nervous nellies around here, huh? I don't know what you're picturing, but there's a lot of room before you start getting into ethical questions. Or do you wonder what the ads that your neural implant activates are feeling? That's rudimentary A.I. -- it has to know where and who you are and how to respond to your presence.

    That's the kind of A.I. I usually program. The only way I know how to make something more complicated is to pattern it off of a person. I'm not going to do that.
    arkproject: (Unsure)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-18 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
    And how do you know that?

    [ Catherine is intrigued, not offended. She has a pretty thick skin, and she's used to people doubting her. She shouldn't take it personally and she knows that. But it's hard to hold onto that feeling sometimes, given everything... ]

    I know all about being careful. But if I can help then I want to help. It shouldn't be more than what we're already seeing around us, whether they're deciding to call that 'artificial intelligence' or not.
    arkproject: (211)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-18 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
    Oh! Really?? ... Wait, did you get turned into a human, too?

    [ Yes, Catherine immediately thinks of that, because it's very rude. ]

    That's fine with me. Frankly, clear guidelines are better than no guidelines.
    arkproject: (tumblr_inline_njtvm1CR8R1t2i4in)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-19 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
    I haven't always been human. The original, human Catherine took a brain scan of herself and created me, a digital copy. I mean, I have all of her memories, so I feel like I'm Catherine.
    arkproject: (060)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-02-22 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
    "This technology" is something I invented, so it hasn't exactly been around. I have no idea how you would put an A.I. mind in an organic body.

    This isn't a random body for me, either. It's how I remember myself when I was human. But they could've just pulled that from our memory files, or even edited our memory files to make sure it matches what they gave us. There's a lot of options and not a lot of ways to find out.

    Frankly, it's creeping me out.
    arkproject: (238)

    oh gosh that is completely okay!

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-03-02 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ If only that were a lesson Simon would learn. Markus is a keeper, clearly.

    Catherine's number one job in life might as well be providing nightmare fuel, so she's doing great on that account. It doesn't seem to bother her nearly as much. She is bothered, just about different things than having her memory banks edited. ]


    Well, sure. Verifying things is definitely a problem. And it does make sense to provide us with a familiar form to make us less hostile, but it could also be a practical limitation. Trust me -- I know from experience, you shove one of us in a body that isn't equipped to handle our complexity, it doesn't go well. You can't just put an entire person in whatever computer chip you have lying around.

    Maybe, given their history with A.I., they don't have anything inorganic that can handle us. They might not've had a choice.
    arkproject: (193)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-03-04 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
    Do we know anything about the war they had? They must be really spooked if they wrote off A.I. entirely.

    Not really. I mean, I did for a little while at first, but it wasn't great. It got damaged and then Simon had to put me in the Omnitool. That wasn't too bad - I had access to all the station systems wherever he plugged me in - but it was really disorienting to lose consciousness all the time whenever he had to unplug me.

    This is really my first time having an independent body.
    arkproject: (241)

    [personal profile] arkproject 2019-03-04 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ There's a pause before she replies. This is a less abstract conversation for someone whose entire Earth is now devoid of human life. ]

    That's difficult to picture. Where I was working, we relied on an A.I. to run our life support systems. Even when it malfunctioned, it didn't go against its core programming to preserve human life. I wonder what really happened to Elysian, and what caused the war.

    Oh, Simon... Simon's hard to explain. I guess he's like me, a brain scan of a person, but he had a body he was inhabiting, so he was helping me.

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